Long Beach Medical Center was one of seventeen health care organizations across all of New York State to be honored by the Island Peer Review Organization (IPRO) at their annual Quality and Safety Awards Program in November, 2010.  

IPRO, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for New York State, recognizes individuals and organizations that demonstrate a commitment to improving the quality of care provided to New York’s Medicare beneficiaries.

Faye Duda, RN, Chief Nursing Officer at Long Beach Medical Center was presented with the IPRO Patient Safety Initiative Award at a reception held at the Laguardia Marriott in East Elmhurst, NY.  The award was given in recognition of the Medical Center’s organization-wide commitment to patient safety and dedication to education, training, measuring and reporting information related to improving the care and management of patients with or at risk for pressure ulcers. 

“Improving patient outcomes is one of our highest priorities and we are pleased to be recognized with this award for our efforts in decreasing pressure injuries,” said Ms. Duda.  “Our Nursing Department achieved these results by implementing a multi-faceted approach which included education, new processes, and screening tools, all of which heightened our staff’s awareness of potential risk.  The staff aggressively managed these risks with early preventive steps, which resulted in improved outcomes for our patients.” 

The Pressure Ulcer project was implemented across the Medical Center’s continuum of care and its system-wide success was dependent upon the collaboration between the nursing staffs of the Medical Center’s Hospital, Nursing Home and Home Care Agency.  IPRO’s leadership noted the complexity in cultivating collaborative efforts among three such divergent entities and congratulated the staffs for their hard work and dedication to the project’s success.

Also instrumental in the program’s success was the clinical support of Long Beach Medical Center’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center.  A Center of Excellence in treating hard to heal wounds, the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center uses a team approach comprised of physicians, surgeons and nurses who provide advanced wound care treatment as well as hyperbaric oxygen therapy.